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Hervé Chapelier: The Nineties' Favorite Bag Makes a Comeback

The November 1995 issue of Vogue featured a page in the Index section devoted to neo-classics, stating “It’s not that an Hermès scarf or a bottle of Chanel No. 5 will ever go out of style, it’s just that every generation likes to anoint its own classics.” So, what were the examples of what the nineties girl chose as her new/old fashion standby? There was the Prada backpack (the new L.L.Bean tote), an X-Girl logo tee (the new Lacoste polo) and Superga sneakers (the new Tretorns), and the Hervé Chapelier travel bag. It should be pointed out that the backpack is, well, back in a big way (spotted in the resort collections everywhere from 3.1 Phillip Lim to Rochas), cult-fave indie label X-Girl was re-launched in America earlier this year and, Superga, with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as creative directors, is cool again. So it should be no surprise that the Hervé Chapelier bag has made a similarly triumphant return.

The “minimal nylon duffel bag,” Vogue said more than decade ago, “carries as much weight as Louis Vuitton’s logo-laden version.” A big endorsement, indeed, and by the dawn of the new millennium, the tote version of the French company’s signature two-colored design was ubiquitous in New York, spotted on the arms of NYU co-eds and uptown ladies alike. Today, Hervé Chapelier, which was founded in 1976, also makes a cotton version (in addition to the original nylon) in camo and animal prints—simple, colorful and perfect for a summer getaway.

One editor recently passed the Chapelier shop in Paris and said: “Those really are due a revival.” They are, indeed!hervechapelier.com